In the Rain
by Tokiya
Summary: Contemplation in the rain. A complimentary episode to 'Nothing and Everything'.


A/N: This is a complimentary episode to 'Nothing and Everything', albeit a very short one.

* * *

It was raining. Hard and unforgivingly cold just like the day everything she had held dear had been taken away from her grasp forever.

Yukimura had been standing there for hours, staring at the poor vegetables under the merciless torrents and seeing nothing. Her mind registered only the fact that she was drenched to the bone.

What meaning did her life have anymore? What use did a warrior who had failed to protect even her lord have?

She was starting to feel sick of the pitying looks everybody was tossing in her way, and to deal with that frustration, she had chosen to hide behind a smiling face. Her _former_ rival - she felt no point in competing against him anymore - probably let her stay here also out of pity.

Or had there been something more?

On the day she had woken up after a week of unconsciousness, he had saved her from the absurd disgrace of suicide. In that brief second, her mind had gone blank, her tragic memories and grave intention all but forgotten. His lips had been surprisingly soft and warm, and there had been an unmistakable gentleness to his touch that belied his stoic facade.

Despite the freezing rain, she felt her face heat up at the memory.

Since that day, they had mostly been only exchanging greetings and pleasantries. Or more precisely, she had been subtly avoiding him. His presence had become bewilderingly complicate for her, always filling her with an unfamiliar, albeit not unwelcome, feeling so that she did not feel quite empty as she always felt nowadays, but at the same time, he was also a painful reminder of what she had failed to protect. Not knowing how to deal with this newfound complicacy, she had chosen to flee and seek refuge here in the peace and quiet of Katakura-dono's vegetable garden.

An ironic smile curving her lips, she shook her head in self-disgust. What a warrior she had become. Oyakata-sama must be rolling in his grave now.

Crouching down to the earth, she reached out to touch a leaf swaying wildly in the heavy rain. The only good thing about this whole situation was her newfound consolation. It was a novel sensation to be giving lives instead of taking them away. After a week of tending to the crops and watching them grow day by day, she thought she had started to understand what the Dragon's Right Eye had found so fascinating here. Sadly, at this rate, some of them would probably die of this excessive rain.

She felt the corners of her eyes prickling and her vision clouded over, but she could not tell her tears from the rain on her face. Did she still have anything left to cry with? When would this torment end?

Suddenly, the rain stopped pouring down onto her, and trails of fresh hot tears spilling down her cheeks made themselves known. From the familiar ki behind her, she did not have to turn around to see who was holding an umbrella over both of them.

"Katakura-dono," she acknowledged him softly, her eyes still fixed on the plants.

"You'll catch a cold."

She ignored his gentle reprimand. "Are they going to die?"

"Probably, some will."

Resignation clouded her eyes as a sigh escaped her lips. "…I see."

Silence fell over them as she felt his perceptive gaze on her back. Sometimes, his insight was a little too unnerving; she could try to hide all she liked and he would still know what she was thinking.

"We can always grow new ones, you know, as long as we have our hands."

'_Always keep moving forward, Yukimura. That's the way of the man among men.' _

The teachings of her deceased lord rang clearly in her mind as if it were only yesterday that he had given her their so-called 'Takeda's special training'.

"Oyakata-sama…" If her lord were here, she would have been punched to the end of the Earth by now. What had she been doing in the past few weeks, standing still in grief and self-loathing?

_'…Do you really think that this is what they would wish for you?'_

The Oshu lord had asked her this question after her preposterous attempt at suicide. Its meaning had never been so clear as it was to her now. Her hands tightened into loose fists as she stood up. Her back was still turned to Date's second in command.

"Masamune-dono…"

"As long as you have a goal, you can keep moving forward no matter what happens." A folded umbrella came into her view before he continued, "Masamune-sama dreams of a world of peace and happiness for everyone. With that purpose in mind, he always keeps going forward despite all the loss and sacrifice."

Accepting the offered umbrella, she turned her widened eyes to him in surprise as a realization dawned on her.

Slowly, a genuine smile curved her lips as it reached her eyes for the first time during her stay here. So immersed in anguish and self-hatred, she had almost missed it. It was true that now she did not have much left in her life, but neither had she lost everything dear to her.

Even if she could not be whole again, she would help _him_ be.

"Thank you, Katakura-dono."

He only nodded back with a slight smile before walking away and disappearing behind a veil of rain.

She had almost nothing left, and his happiness had become her everything.

Yukimura opened the umbrella and started to tread her way back to the compound, the smile still remaining on her face.

It was time to stop the rain now.

* * *

A/N2: The Takeda training thing is from the 13th episode in season 2.


End file.
